Blower assembly

ABSTRACT

A blower assembly for dissipating heat from a printed circuit board (PCB), the blower assembly includes a bracket and a fan. The bracket includes a sidewall defining an inlet and a lateral wall defining a fixing slot to receive one end of the PCB, the lateral wall also defines an outlet adjacent the fixing slot. The fan is installed in the bracket and exposed through the inlet to suck air, configured for expelling air from the inlet to the outlet to cool the PCB.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to blower assemblies and, particularly, to a blower assembly for dissipating heat from an electronic device.

2. Description of Related Art

Electronic devices, such as central processing units (CPUs) and printed circuit boards (PCBs), frequently generate large amount of heat during normal operation, which can destabilize operation of the electronic devices and possibly cause damage. Oftentimes, a heat dissipation assembly is used to dissipate heat from an electronic device. The heat dissipation assembly usually comprises a fan.

As computer technology continues to advance, the electronic devices of computers are being made to provide faster operational speeds and greater functional capabilities, which in turn cause more heat to be generated. Therefore, blowers are used to dissipate the generated heat instead of ordinary fans. However, including a general blower for a PCB will often give rise to limitations in manufacturing the PCB.

What is needed, therefore, is to provide a blower assembly to overcome the above described shortcomings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a blower assembly, together with a printed circuit board and a chip.

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a blower assembly 20 is provided for dissipating heat generated by a printed circuit board (PCB) 12, such as a memory card, or a graphics card. The PCB 12 includes a gold finger 16 configured for engaging in a PCB slot, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) slot, and a chip 14 set on the PCB 12 which is a main heat source.

The blower assembly 20 includes a bracket 29 and a fan 22 rotatably installed in the bracket 29. The bracket 29 is generally shaped like a flat rectangular box. A sidewall 26 of the bracket 29, which is perpendicular to an axis of the fan 22, defines a round inlet 24 for exposing the fan 22. A lateral wall 27 of the bracket 29, which is parallel to the axis, defines a fixing slot 232, and an outlet 236 communicated with the fixing slot 232. The fixing slot 232 is configured for receiving one end of the PCB 12, such as an end adjacent the gold finger 16, with the outlet 236 aligning with the chip 14. Air can be expelled out of the blower assembly 20 through the outlet 236 to cool the chip 14. Two corners of the sidewall 26 adjacent the outlet 236 define two mounting parts, such as two mounting holes 252 and 256 in the illustrated embodiment, configured for fixing the end of the PCB 12 in the fixing slot 232 via screws 30.

In other embodiments, the bracket 29 is not limited to the shape as shown in FIG. 1, the number of the mounting holes is not limited to two, the mounting holes 252 and 256 are not limited to be defined in the mentioned two corners of the sidewall 26, and the inlet 24 and the outlet 236 can be defined in other positions as needed. Because the size of the inlet 24 determines the volume of air intake, the size of the inlet 24 can be also be changed as needed.

Referring to FIG. 2, in assembly, the end of the PCB 12 is engaged in the fixing slot 232 of the blower assembly 20. The screws 30 extend through the mounting holes 252 and 256 to resist against the PCB 12, thereby securing the blower assembly 20 to the end of the PCB 12.

In operation, when the fan 22 of the blower assembly 20 rotates, air is sucked into the blower assembly 20 through the inlet 24. After being pressurized by the fan 22, the air is expelled out of the blower assembly 20 through the outlet 236 toward the chip 14. Thereby, the chip 14 is cooled.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A blower assembly for dissipating heat from a printed circuit board (PCB), the blower assembly comprising: a bracket comprising a sidewall defining an inlet, and a lateral wall defining a fixing slot to receive one end of the PCB, wherein the lateral wall also defines an outlet adjacent the fixing slot; and a fan, installed in the bracket and exposed through the inlet to suck air, configured for expelling air from the inlet to the outlet to cool the PCB.
 2. The blower assembly of claim 1, wherein the bracket further comprises at least one mounting part configured for fixing the bracket to the PCB.
 3. The blower assembly of claim 2, wherein the at least one mounting part comprises two mounting holes defined in two corners of the sidewall adjacent the outlet, for two screws extending through to resist against the PCB.
 4. The blower assembly of claim 1, wherein the sidewall is perpendicular to an axis of the fan, the lateral wall is parallel to the axis.
 5. The blower assembly of claim 1, wherein the bracket is a flat rectangular box.
 6. The blower assembly of claim 1, wherein the inlet is round.
 7. A blower assembly for dissipating heat from a printed circuit board (PCB), the blower assembly comprising: a bracket defining an inlet, and an outlet perpendicular to the inlet, wherein a fixing slot is defined in the bracket adjacent the outlet, to receive one end of the PCB; and a fan, installed in the bracket, configured for expelling air from the inlet to the outlet to cool the PCB.
 8. The blower assembly of claim 7, wherein at least one mounting part is formed on the bracket, for fixing the bracket to the PCB.
 9. The blower assembly of claim 8, wherein the at least one mounting part comprises two mounting holes defined in the bracket, for two screws extending through to resist against the end of the PCB.
 10. The blower assembly of claim 7, wherein the inlet is perpendicular to an axis of the fan. 